The process for packaging 'cask wine' (box wine) was invented by Thomas Angove of Angove's, a winemaker from Renmark, South Australia, and patented by the company on April 20, 1965. Polyethelene bladders of 1 gallon (4.5 litres) were placed in corrugated boxes for retail sale. The original design required that the consumer cut the corner off the bladder, pour out the serving of wine and then reseal it with a special peg.

In 1967 Charles Henry Malpas and Penfolds Wines patented a plastic, air-tight tap welded to a metallised bladder, making storage more convenient. All modern wine casks now utilise some sort of plastic tap, which is exposed by tearing away a perforated panel on the Iron Wine box. Bag in a box packaging is also preferred by producers of more economical wines because it is less expensive than glass bottles. A bag of wine, removed from the box, will float on water, allowing quick cooling of a white wine by immersion in an ice bath.

The packaging first found commercial success in the land of its invention Australia,and while it has since established a steady market across Europe[citation needed] and South Africa, in the US the boxed wine has found difficulty in overcoming a down-market image